Meg wandered out of her office shortly after Rain left. She wanted to be sure that Kaitlyn hadn’t forgotten to give her any messages. She also felt a need to stretch as well. She saw Rain sitting at the front desk, the phone to her ear. She felt her shoulders tensing just looking at her. What was Rain doing on that phone for heaven’s sake? That phone was for Kaitlyn, who naturally wasn’t there, but couldn’t Rain make calls in her office?
Meg turned to say something but was cut off by Colleen entering the office. “Morning,” she said, a bit louder than she needed to.
Colleen was dressed in black jeans and a dark blue and gray pullover with a fine black print on the front. There was something formal about the way she wore her casual clothes that Meg wished she could pull off. Hers always looked a little like she had slept in them no matter how careful she was.
“Morning,” Meg said, glancing back at Rain who was hanging up the phone.
“Prompt as always,” Rain added, standing behind the desk.
Colleen looked at her watch, a simple black band and dark colored face, which Meg thought was probably water resistant.
“Meg, I was going to have us all meet in the conference room. It seems like Colleen might have some knowledge about various government agencies that could point us in the right direction.”
Meg looked at Rain for a long time, trying to decide what to say. It had taken her aback when Rain just came in talking about a meeting so that everyone was on the same page, as if she were the organizer not Meg. Why was she just expected to jump when everyone kept doing her work? Meg considered bowing out and refusing to take part in Rain’s meeting, when it seemed as if she were invited only as an afterthought, but her curiosity got the better of her.
“I’ll get my things,” Meg said.
Rain gave her a tight smile before adding, “Kyle should be here soon.”
Meg turned without acknowledging the other woman’s comment. She walked quickly, purposefully, to her office. She gathered her laptop, dropping a cord, offended at the loudness of the sound. It sounded the way her mother did when she was frantically vacuuming after being angry at Meg’s father.
By the time Meg made it back out to the conference room, Kyle was setting his tablet down on the table, his coffee next to him. Meg went in and sat down, claiming the end chair for herself. Rain took one of the side chairs, seemingly un-bothered by Meg’s claim to the head chair. Tension worked its way up Meg’s neck.
RaeLynn slipped in with her own notepad, and a computer. She was clearly prepared for anything. Meg wondered where Zari was but just as she did so, the cat sat up in a chair and looked at everyone over the table, a tiny person waiting for the meeting. Meg wondered if Rain would bring her a booster seat.
“So,” Rain started, “Let’s get started. I guess you all know about the plane that went down on the mountain?”
Meg saw nods. Clearly Colleen had been filled in. Kyle was aware as well. Meg knew there was plenty of gossip that he’d be privy to. Helen had probably tried getting information out of him, but Kyle could be surprisingly good at avoiding his mother’s quest for juicy gossip.
“RaeLynn has been searching databases with Zari A to see if there was a government contract for this plane,” Rain continued. “But last I checked, you weren’t having any luck?” She nodded at RaeLynn to respond.
RaeLynn sat up a little straighter as she began her summary. “Zari and I pulled a ton of information from the DOD, NSA, FSA, Homeland, the Air Force and Navy. I picked up nothing. I also pulled what information we could from the largest of the defense contractors but I didn’t find anything that seemed to be related to our plane.”
“How did you search?” Colleen asked.
“I did some searching and cross-referencing for any company that might make planes. I looked at budgets for the various government departments. I examined Congressional budget allocation for defense and anything mentioning planes, in case I missed a department.”
“I’m under the impression this is a fighter plane?” Colleen looked at Rain when she said that.
Rain nodded at Meg. Finally, Meg thought, jumping in with her information.
“My father and a friend of his, a former navy pilot, hiked up there yesterday. John says that it doesn’t look quite right for a fighter or a stealth plane. He’s not sure what the purpose is because it has such an unusual layout.”
“Weapons?” Colleen asked.
“John thought there were weapons.”
Colleen nodded slowly. Her fingers pressed together while her eyes gazed off into a corner of the room. Finally she said, “It doesn’t sound like anything that would be blacked out but it’s not impossible. It almost sounds like it has a purpose other than government defense. What about a private military contractor rather than a defense contractor? Their budgets would be general and they wouldn’t work directly for the government. If they found Zari’s metal, that kind of technology would be real enticing for them.”
“And Blayn G was much more likely to have hired men who had contacts with just such a company,” Meg said thinking about it. The men they had met while searching for Blayn G had been tough but they seemed more like thug than military elite. Some of the men weren’t even aware of what was going on, having been easily fooled by Blayn G’s cover story. He had preyed on men who wanted to be tough but weren’t.
“I could see that,” Kyle said. “They knew guns and had some good strategy but Blayn G was the one in charge.”
Meg nodded in agreement. Blayn G had hired men. That meant they were no longer military. Given their youth, chances were they didn’t have the contacts to be seen as someone the military should talk to. A private contractor would be more willing to listen. Especially one that was hungry. The scientists working for Blayn might have had more contacts, but even they may have found it more lucrative to offer the metal to a private contractor. They may also have had more freedom to continue the studies that Blayn-G had started.
“Do we know what happened to those guys?” Meg asked. “I know that they were told to get lost but clearly someone had some of the metal—does it have a name?--and probably took it long before Peter and Zari were cleaning up. My understanding is that Zari was pretty certain she got it all?”
Rain nodded at her. “Zari says that she and Peter are fairly certain your guess is likely correct. Kuan Yin and Pele helped make sure that all the metal left behind was destroyed. That means the most likely scenario is that someone took it before we ever became involved. Oh and Zari calls the metal alpha33678gamma 943992alpha8336, which means calling it Zari’s metal is probably easier.”
Meg could sense Peter’s agreement. He knew he’d have noticed any traces of the non-worldly substance. Someone had been stealing from Blayn G. That seemed like a risky venture given Blayn’s telepathic abilities. Meg wished she’ seen the last of the criminal from Zari’s world. So far as she knew she had, but this substance he’d left behind was almost worse than he was.
“I think we need to find out if Blayn G actually formed any type of corporation that these guys might still be working at. We should also look at other security contractors,” Meg said.
Colleen leaned back in her chair before speaking. “What does Dillon say?”
“He won’t be in for a bit,” Rain said. “He got in fairly late last night.”
Meg wondered what Dillon had to say about the plane and if he noticed the same oddities John had. She looked forward to talking with him. He could point out details in the photos that she wasn’t clear on.
“Send him to my office when he gets in,” Meg ordered, knowing she was ordering Rain around, “I want to know what’s going on with that plane.” There. She’d asserted her authority. Of course she didn’t feel any better. What she really wanted to do was go hiking on the mountain and see the plane for herself.